On June 8, Venus will pass in front of the Sun's face.

Prepare for a media blitz. It will be all transit, all the time as the airwaves, newspapers, and Internet, herald this unique phenomenon of planetary alignment.

Despite saturation coverage, hunker down in the privacy (and awe) of your own imagination. Contemplate the mathematical precision in predicting the transit given the distances and magnitude of the objects involved. No hype should diminish your sense of wonder.

Given that there are more than a billion stars in our Milky Way galaxy and more than a billion billion galaxies in the known universe, just why is one tiny - about 80% the size of Earth - little planet’s passing in front of a star such a big deal? Because we are conscious of it. Venus’s passing in front of our Sun is not an unrecorded, inanimate event. (See figure 1)

In our tiny little corner of the universe we sojourn with our sister planet and we simultaneously imagine our own Earth as it orbits the Sun, sustained by the hostile fire of our star's nuclear explosions that seed life-giving photosynthesis across the frigid emptiness of space.

Only six transits of Venus have occurred since the telescope was invented in the early seventeenth century: (1631, 1639) (1761, 1769) (1874, 1882). Notice, that transits occur in pairs with eight year separations between the two transits in the pair. (So you’ve got a second chance in case you miss this one next month. More than likely you’ll want to come back and see it again.)

Intervals of about 105 or 122 years elapse before a pair of transits occurs. More than one century will elapse before they occur again. You may grow tired of hearing: "The last time Venus transited the Sun was in the year 1882; no living human has ever seen this event." Don't!

More compelling: Few humans – maybe hundreds - have ever seen Venus cross the Sun's disk (more on this in a future blog).

A few facts: the only planets that can transit the Sun are those with orbits smaller than Earth's orbit, i.e., Mercury and Venus. Mercury, being much closer to the Sun, makes 13 to 14 transits a century. We had one a year ago on May 7.

Photos of Venus taken by some of the world's great telescopes will amplify the image of this cloud-covered sojourner crossing a sea of fire. Viewing the transit of this tiny black dot will heighten awareness of the size, scale and velocity of planets. Ultimately, we will connect our own water planet in relation to the myriad of stars that fill the heavens, all of which are yoked by the same laws of motion and gravity.

There is much more to say. Rather than attempt to do so in one comprehensive article we plan to update – to blog this blog – from now until June 8th. We will offer tips on how to safely view the transit; where on the planet it will be visible, with exact times; links to websites on the subject; and a photo gallery from professional and amateur alike of some of the better pictures taken of the transit.

One final thought. Another message you will hear over and over: "Never look directly at the sun with the naked eye or unfiltered telescope." This one you can't hear enough. The temptation will be to sneak a peak. It is up to every adult to keep children from the optical equivalent of playing in traffic. (Parents and teachers should verbally beat youngsters over the head with this advice.)

Next: Captain Cook and Venus. (by Jim Bencivenga)